Let me introduce you to the personal trainer who lives in your computer

Image via YouTube

I don’t have a gym membership. I will probably never have one. This is because I have a personal trainer living in my computer. In fact, I have several, and I call on them for different things at different times. Some I use when I want to be coddled, and others I go to when I want my butt kicked into shape. Some of them I visit just because they’re a good time.

My personal trainers all live in one place: YouTube.

Working out via YouTube means that I don’t have to leave the house, which I love. The other advantage YouTube has over the actual gym is you can exercise in short bursts. All exercise is good exercise, and when you only have ten minutes, YouTube is here for you.

Here’s how I get a full hour’s worth of working out in, throughout the course of a day.

First thing in the morning:

Sometimes I imagine Adriene and I are friends in real life. She’s just so kind, and cute and sweet. Plus, she gets you nice and limber when you’ve just woken up, without hurting you too badly. Her ‘drunk cat cows’ –  where you stand on your hand and knees, then move your body forward, up, around and back in a circular motion – are the best ‘wrong side of the bed’ correctors.

Once you’re warmed up:

If Adriene is my BFF, then Mary Helen Bowers of Ballet Beautiful is my frenemy. She’s hard, and mean, and often I feel like she’s doing things just to hurt me. But damn, if her burns don’t get serious results. This is one to do before that morning shower.

When I get home:

When you get home from work, or running errands, it’s totally reasonable to be tired and/or cranky, which is why you have to do something fun to get yourself moving – like, say, dancing it out. Keaira Lashae is that fun. Even the spelling of her name is fun. She is the person who convinces you to go to a party at one in the morning, and then when you wake up the next day you’re not even hung over because all you did was dance, smile and drink water. This class is also good to do at home because, while I enjoy dancing, I’m sickeningly uncoordinated and have zero sense of rhythm, so it’s nice to practice somewhere where no one can see my shame.

Right before bed:

Tara Stiles is a self-proclaimed ‘yoga rebel’, and is way too cool for me to imagine being friends with in real life. But that coolness is great just before bed when you need to briefly stretch the day away and get into a sleeping head-space. I can’t get into anywhere near the kind of poses Tara can, but striving for them is actually pretty relaxing.

Do you have a YouTube trainer you love? Tell us about it!